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Bank of Greece governor says not intimidated by attacks

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras declared on Tuesday that he is not intimidated by attacks against him, emphasizing that his role demands that he issue warnings about threats to the Greek economy.

"During its long history, the Bank of Greece has become a target, in several instances, of special interests who want to undermine its instititutional role in order to benefit policies that contradict the basic principles of its founding charter," Stournaras said at the bank's annual cutting of the New Year cake.

"Unfortunately, we were targeted by such attacks this past year, culminating in the terrorist attack against former Bank of Greece governor Lucas Papademos," Stournaras said.

"Such tactics do not intimidate us as, apart from anything else, they confirm that we are on the right track, as opposed to all those who insist on overlooking institutions, intervening in their operations, questioning their usefulness or rejecting their institutional decisions and the repercussions resulting from not complying with these," he said.

Stournaras stressed that it was his duty as governor of the independent central bank to issue public and timely warnings of possible threats to Greece's monetary and financial stability and to evaluate the long-term outlook and interests of the Greek economy in his reports.